Dharma Mittra

Divine Bond: Guru and Sadhaka ~

By now on, I have realized that my story with Dharma Mittra has no beginning nor an end.

My story with Dharma is the story of how I realized the eternal presence of God within my self, “God dwelling at the right side of my heart as the Supreme Self ”, the most real identity, the deepest nature of the Being, the Eternal Purusa.

As I reached this supreme realization by the tender guidance of my beloved guru, I have also realized the cycle of reincarnation, and from it, the strong feeling of knowing that I have been around Dharma’s spirit for some lifetimes.Our latest encounter has been the most convincing proof of it.

Some years ago I went to take a purification bath at Iguaque Lake, placed on the top of a mountain, a natural sanctuary located above12.000 feet that seemed to bring you closer to the father sun. This is a ritual that I used to do every new year sunset, same as the Muiscas did, the ancient people from the central region of what is known today as Colombia , the country where I grew up.

After a three hour exhausting climbing I settled up to make some Asana offering to the Lake before I dared surrendering to its frozen waters. After recovering senses and consciousness from the shocking ice the body and soul was clean and harmonious.

Followed that I sat in meditation, waiting for the light of God to bring clarity to the spirit or at least the light of god sun, to warm up the weak body. For my own surprise that day it really happened, a clear insight arose from deep into the center of my chest. It was like a calling from someone asking me to move, to move away, to somewhere where he or she was waiting for me.

All I knew was that I just had to go somewhere to meet some one, someone who had something to give me. It was clear, clear as that sunlight coming from the center of my chest warming up every cell of my body and lighting up every thought of my mind.

I spent the next months trying to keep my self sensitive enough to identify the right sight that could reveal me destiny or at least the next step to follow. I tried a couple of times to travel to India, mother land of yoga thinking that was the direction to follow, but insights don’t come from the mind, they come from the heart, precisely from that spot which I became aware that morning at Iguaque, deep into the center of my chest, “just at the right side of the physical heart”.

Didn’t take too long when all things started to clear up. I received an invitation from a dance festival in New York City to present the latest choreography that I have created with my dance troupe. By that same time I won an audition to dance with a New York choreographer, and also a Theater company, based as well in NYC,that was interested in having me teaching movement workshops for them. I should say that at the beginning the idea of moving to NYC didn’t sound like fitting with such a spiritual insight. Back in the 80′s when I was a kid, I spent many time here, my grand father lived and died in this city so I didn’t have the best perception of this place either less as a spiritual destiny. So everything was clear, clear as the Inner Light, and now being materialized.

As soon I settled in the city I started looking around for yoga studios to deepen my practice. But every time I tried a class, I came back to my own self-practice, which was the only one I have ever done, with strongest confidence and appreciation.

I simply couldn’t find someone that seemed to understand the importance of keeping the tradition of a spiritual path, as a way of reaching the living-integrity of the yoga-practice with the present existence of each and every atom in the universe. Neither I could find someone that seemed to have the key to teach me how to build the balance of a Spiritual Life living in such a time, in such a city and in such a world. But in one of those failed tries, another piece of the divine puzzle came across. In one of those classes I found an old good friend with whom I have shared the love and thirst for Yoga, when the class was over he bought me a beautiful photograph book of an incredible yogi performing 608 hard to belief asana poses. This book enlightened and empowered my self-practice, to start finding the guidance I was begging for.

While I was doing my practice trying to imitate this master, I felt like if someone was giving me precise instructions and even more than that, it was revealing me well kept secret tricks to get into the poses. A few weeks latter my asana practice improved like never before, my intuition got sharper and the meditation even more mindful.

I began being able to take this mindfulness everywhere in to pleasant walks without a destiny and in the middle of the noise some how the city was peaceful.

One of those days I end up captivated for no reason, by a yoga center red sing. I stopped walking and stared up to the third floor. I didn’t feel like going up, so I stayed in the small hall at the street level reading the center information from the flyers pasted on the walls and looking some pictures of people performing Asana. Suddenly everything went off, everything! No sound was coming from the street. I lost attention from what I was doing, I lost complete awareness from the outside, of my senses. Everything went off except an intense burning sensation across my back and the center of my chest, “just at the right side of my heart”.

I turned around breathless. It took a little while to my sight to find focus and to realize what I was experiencing, what I was looking at. Then an incandescence flash faded away to reveal behind the shape of a tender man. I tremble every time I recall this moment, experiencing again fully alive the feeling I had back then, and I always will.

It was Love, Pure Tender Love. I couldn’t react at all. The tender man put on his eye glasses, opened the mail box, checked the mail, and closed it again. He walked to the street, climb on a 80′s cross bicycle and pedal away the 3 rd Avenue until he was lost in distance between buses and cars.

Immediately the noise from the street came back to my ears in full volume, I would say it took me long to recover back. While I was wiping my tears off I could realize that he was the one pasted in most of the pictures on the wall.

. I still had to wait a couple hours more until I got home, to discover that the tender man was the same great yogi who was doing the 608 hard to believe asana poses from my magical book. I was so shocked I couldn’t sleep much, waiting eagerly to go back again to the center. Next morning I jumped out of my place nervous like the groom walking towards the bride and went back following the same track I had done the day before seeking that third floor and its red sign saying clearly “ Dharma Yoga Center” on the 3 rd Avenue and 23 rd Street.

The next thing I remembered was listening to those < precise same instructions > that I had clear in my head while I was doing my self-practice trying to imitate that unknown Great Yogi.

Some how finally there I was, listing and following those same precise instructions but live now, through the tender voice of the tender man, the Great Yogi, Sri Dharma Mittra…

From the very moment that class ended, I started serving Dharma and Ismiritee Devi, who offered me the chance to work as a karma yogi at the Center. At the beginning cleaning the floor and windows, repainting the walls of the temple or simply making any other tasks they needed me to do. Later on I received the divine gift of serving Dharma directly supporting his own dharma, fulfilling the heart of world with the divine happiness of the Supreme Self-realization through the science of Yoga. Teaching Yoga at the temple Kaliashananda on Dharma’s absence or any where in world where the seeds of his teachings need to be planted.

Since that day my life has been at the service of God in the yogi army of love under the guidance of Sri Dharma Mittra. “My whole life to serve and support his dharma as an “act of adoration to the Lord”. My whole life in gratitude to God for revealing to me His Eternal Presence within, and to Dharma Mittra for guiding me, once again, full of love on this path of the supreme self-realization. I have received from him all I need to know, how to live this life in a spiritual and permanent yoga (union) with God and in well balance, in this present time, in such a city, in such a world…

I can recognize now how long he has been teaching me psychically. I can recognize now it was his voice calling me that day in the top of Iguaque’s mountain. He has been the one guiding me to awake this higher level of consciousness emerging from “ the right side of the heart”, where God dwells forever. He has been the one activating the spot in between my eyebrows, from where I can always get his advise, support and living lectures of love.

I “ renounce the fruits of my actions ” as my spiritual father, beloved guru and deepest mittra (friend) has taught me… My life to imitate my guru and his holy humbleness to project in others people hearts, the light of God through Dharma’s wisdom. To teach everyone how to find in full consciousness this light of God “ at the right side of the heart ” as he has taught me. This inner path, where we all can enter to the kingdom of God. The inner paradise from where all the siddis and vibhutis –yogi powers- are revealed. Because all we might desire comes after renouncing at the service of God. The dharma is the only thing from where we can have permanent happiness in this impermanent human nature. This is the supreme realization of the yogi, accomplishing his divine duty for the sake the Universal Yoga, the Universal Life.

“ I fix my mind on the Lord alone, I rest my thoughts on Him alone ” because just “ on Him alone ” I know we will live hereafter …

And just because on Him alone,I know I will cross roads with Dharma’s Spirit over and over again, for ever after…